Detachable lift for the heel of a shoe



Jan. 31, 1933. H, MAKRUZEN 1,895,469

DETACHABLE LIFT FOR THE HEEL OF A SHOE Filed Aug. 8, 1931 INI/ENTOR.

TTORNEY.

Patented Jan. 31, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFlCE HERMAN IsIAKRUZIN, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO LOUIS NECI-IO,

Y OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA DETACEABLE LIFT FOR THE HEEL OF .A SHOE Application led August 8, 1931.

My invention relates to a new and useful detachable lift for the heel of a shoe 'and it relates more particularly to a lift which is adapted to be rigidly and detachably secured to the heel of a shoe by means of interlocking plates, one of which is secured to the bottom of the heel and the other of which is secured to the upper surface of said lift.

My invention further relates to a construction of this character which enables the user to apply the lift to the heel whenever the lift already on the heel has worn out,orhas broken of, without the necessity of resortingto a shoe repair shop and without the need of any extraneous fastening devices.

A further object of my invention is to provide a detachable lift for heels` which in outward appearance completely simulates a lift A secured to a heel in the conventional manner. My invention still further relates to a construction of this character wherein the lift is secured to the heel in a completely dust and dirt proof manner.

To the above ends, myV invention consists in providing the heel of a shoe with a permanently secured metallic plate, preferably made of a rigid, spring material, which plate is provided on its bottom surface with apertures for receiving fastening devices for securing it to said heel, and with other apertures for receiving interlocking tongues which are provided on the upper surface of another metallic plat-e which is also permanently secured to the renewable lift which is to be detachably and rigidly secured to the heel.

My invention still further consists in stamping the locking plate which is secured to the lift with prongs which are adapted to penetrate said lift for the purpose of securing said locking plate thereto.

My invention still further consists of so arranging the locking plates in the lift and the heel in countersunk interlocking position,

so that the locking plates are rendered invisible.

My invention still further relates to various other novel features of construction and advantage, all as hereinafter described and Serial No. 555,921.

claimed in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l represents a ladys shoe provided with a detachable lift embodying my invention. Figure 2 represents a plan view of the lockplate shown secured to the detachable ift.

Figure 3 shows a plan View of the reverse surface of the locking plate shown in Figurev 2, shown detached from the lift.

Figure 4t represents a sectionon line 1 -4: of Figure 2.

Figure im represents ra fragmentary sectional view showing` the detachable lift se-n Figure 6 represents a section on line 6-6 of Y' 'Figure 3.

Figure 7 represents a plan view of the upper locking plate shown secured to the bottom of the heel of the shoe.

Figure 8 represents a plan View of the re-` verse side of the locking'plate shown in Figure 7 shown detached from the heel.

Figure 9 represents a section on line 9 9 of Figure 7.

Figure l0 represents a section on line` lO--lO of Figure 7 Figure l1 represents a section on line ll-ll of Figure 7.

Referring to the drawing, in which like reference characters designate like parts, 31 designates a shoe having the heel 32 which is provided with a detachable lift 33 secured thereto by interlocking plates 34e and 35 embodying my invention (see Figures 2 and 7 The locking plate 34: is secured to the lift 33 by means of a series of prongs 86 which are stamped from the body of the plate 34 and deflected downwardly for penetration by hammering, or otherwise, into the body of the lift 83, as will be best understood from Figico ures 2-6. The locking plate 34 is further provided on its upper surface with the tongues or wings 37, and with the rear lug 38, which are stamped from the body of the locking plate 34 and which are deiected upwardly for engagement with receiving apertures in the locking plate 35, which will hereinafter be further described. The locking plate 34 is countersunk into the upper surface of the lift 33, and the front straight edge 40 of the locking plate is slightly setback from the corresponding straight edge 41 of the lift 33 for a purpose hereinafter further set forth. The countersunk relation of the locking plate 34 to the lift 33 can be best understood from `Figures 2, 4m and 5m. The locking plate 35 `is secured to the heel 32 by means of fastenwhen the parts ar-e assembled, as shown in Figure 5m, for instance, is adapted to abut against the straight edge 40 of the locking plate 34 to close the meeting line or junction of the contiguous locking plates 34 and 35, thus preventing the entering of any dust or dirt and serving further as a reinforcing abutment for the entire construction. Similarly the countersunk arrangement of the locking plate 34 with respect to the lift 33 results in a curved rear vertical ilange 54 which serves to abut against the bottom of the heel 32 see Figure 4m), thereby hiding the intermediate interlocking plates 34 and 35 from view and serving to keep out dust and dirt and to form a continuous reinforcing abutment for the entire construction. The operation of the device is as follows: The standard wooden heel 32 of the shoe 3l isprovided with a locking plate 35, which is permanently secured thereto by means of the nails 43, or their equivalent, passing` through the apertures 44, it being understood that La suitable permanent fastening arrangement can be used. The plate 35 is, of course, cut to a slightly smaller size than the bottom surface of the heel 32, or along the curved side land rear edges thereof, and is provided along its-front straight edge with the pendant flange 50. The locking plate 34 is secured to the lift 33 by hammering or otherwise forcing the pendant prongs 36 cut from the body thereof into the body ofthe lift 33, which may be of rubber, leather or the like, it being understood that any other fastening means for securing the locking plate 34 to the lift 33 may be employed. The locking plate 34'is countersunk along its curved side and rear edges into the upper surface of the lift 33, and, as stated, its front edge 40 is slightly set back from the front edge of the lift 33 a distance sufficient to accommodate the pendant iiange 50 of the locking plate 35. When it is desired to attach the lift 33, provided with the locking plate 34, to the heel 32, provided with the locking plate 35, it is merely necessary to insert the central oppositely pointing wings 37 into the enlarged portions of the openings 36, and to push the lift 33 forward, towards the toe of the shoe. This result-s in forcing the front tongues or wings 37 on the upper surface of the locking plate 80 34 into the front openings 46 in the under surface and near the straight edge of the locking plate 35. The lift 33 is pushed forwardly until the rear lug 38 on the upper surface thereof abuts against the rear edge 49 T185 of the locking plate 35, whereupon the lift 33 is forced slightly apart from the heel 32 until the lug 38 clears the edge -49 of the locking plate 32, in which position, .a further push of the lift 33 will slip the lug '38 into f1.0 the rear slot 45 in the locking plate 35. In this position of the parts, the curved side and rear flange 54 of the lift 33 abuts against the rear corresponding edge of the locking plate on the heel 32 thus enclosing the locking :T95 plates 34 and 35 from view, and since leather is more elastic and more pliable than metal, the contact of the flange 54 with the body of the heel 32 results in a tighter lit, that is, one which is less visible, and one which will keep out all dirt. Similarly, in this position of the parts, the forward iange 50 of the locking plate 34, likewise closes the meeting edgev of the locking plates 34 and 35 or the junction of the lift 33 with the heel 32. IUI-105 will thus be seen that when the lockingplates 34 and 35 are interlocked, the lift 33 is prevented from rotation, since it is firmly engaged at a plurality of angularly disposed points, and it is further prevented from slip- 110 ping forwards or backwards or sideways, not only by the interlocking wings engaging 'the apertures but also by the countersunk arrangement resulting in the flange 54, which surrounds the side and rear portions of the heel, and by means of the lug 38 which engages the aperture 45, and by means `of the front flange 50 of the locking plate 35 which abuts against the front edge 40 of the locking plate 34. In order to detach the lift 33, it is merely necessasry to pull it apart from .the heel 32 until the lug 38 is clear of the aperture 45, whereupon a rearward pull on `the lift 33 will disengage the remaining tongues of the locking plate 34 which engage the corresponding apertures on the lockingplate 35. Since in actual use, the lift 33 is only subjected to a forward thrust during walking, it will be seen that the lift is retained against forward displacement bythe lug 38 3130 and wings 37, the front flange 54 of the interlocking plate 35, and by means of the tongues 36 which engage the body of the lift. lhatever twisting or lateral thrust the lift 33 is subjected to, is practically negligible, and even then the lift is completely secured against any such displacement by the countersunk arrangement resulting in flange 54, as well as by the various interlocking tongues and apertures already above referred to. Notwithstanding this maximum amount of security and rigidity, it is evident that the lift 33 can be slipped into and out of position with a. minimum of effort and by a single movement which consumes a fraction of a second only. With my present invention, when the lift ordinarily used on the bottom of wooden heels, particularly ladies shoes, wears out, it is unnecessary to takel the shoe to a repair shop and wait while a new lift is being secured to the wooden heel by hammering nails thereinto. This is not only an expensive operation and one which entails inconvenience, but the repeated driving of nails into the wooden heel, together with the thrust involved, is very detrimental to the heel. Furthermore, if a conventional lift wears off or breaks off at some point, or at some time, when a shoe repair service is not available, the owner of a shoe not provided with detachable lifts embodying my invention is at a loss and completely helpless. By my invention, whether the user be a man or a woman, the detachable lift, inasmuch as it can be secured without any hammering or cutting, can be carried on the person and reserved for application during an emergency.

While I have heretofore described my invention as applied to the attaching of a detachable lift to the heel of a shoe, which is one of the primary objects of my invention, I am fully aware that the locking plate arrangement that I have devised is fully applicable to other fields of effort, and that by claiming my invention in connection with and as applied to a shoe, I do not disclaim, and on the other hand, do claim the novel locking plate arrangement I have herein described, no matter how or to what it is applied. I am further aware that the particular allocation of the wings, tongues, lugs, grooves or flanges, forming part of my invention, may be infinitely varied, without departing from the scope or spirit of my invention, and I therefore do not desire to be limited to the specific and exact location of each and every one of the elements illustrated and described, the essence of my invention residing in providing two interlocking plates which can be secured to respective bodies to be detachably and rigidly secured together, which interlocking plates could be engaged and disengaged instantaneously, without any extraneous aid, and which when engaged are completely invisible Without dismantling of the part-s.

Having thus described my invention, what I cla-im as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The combination with the heel of a shoe and a top lift adapted to be attached to said heel, of means for rigidly and detachably securing said top lift to said heel, comprising a plate adapted to be permanently attached to the bottom of said heel, said plate having a pendant flange along the straight edge thereof, there being relatively small openings disposed n angular relation with respect to each other, and relatively large guide openings in the body of said plate, aA second plate adapted Ato be permanently secured to said top lift in countersunk relation with respect thereto, said plate having a plurality of relatively small prongs disposed in angular relation to each other and adapted to engage said small openings, and relatively large guide prongs adapted to engage said guide openings in said first mentioned plate to guide said small prongs into said small openings, tofacilitate application of said top lift to said heel, the straight edge of said second mentioned plate being adapted to abut against the pendant iange on the straight edge of said first mentioned plate.

2. The combination with the heel of a shoe and a top lift adapted to be attached to said heel, of means for rigidly and detachably securing said top lift to said heel, comprising a plate adapted to be permanently attached jy to the bottom of said heel, said plate having a pendant flange along the straight edge thereof and having relatively small front and rear openings disposed in angular relation with respect to each other, and relatively large central guide openings in the body of said plate, a second plate adapted to be permanently secured to said top lift in countersunk relation with respect thereto, said plate having a plurality of front and rear tongues disi posed in angular relation to each other and adapted to engage the front and rear openings in said first mentioned plate and relatively large guide prongs adapted to engage the central guide openings in said first mentioned plate to guide said other prongs int-o said small openings to facilitate application of said top lift to said heel, the straight edge of said second mentioned plate being adapted to abut against the pendant flange on the straight edge of said first mentioned plate.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature.

, ERMAN MAKRUZIN. 

